SALESFUEL TODAY

How Much Should You Sell?

How much of your product or service do you think clients and prospects really care about? Often, reps spend too much time talking about every single feature of what they’re selling, wasting both their and the prospect’s time. Instead, you only need to focus on about 20 percent, according to a recent article by John Barrows. “My experience is that customers only care about 20% of what our solutions offer and mainly only want the parts that align directly with their priorities,” he explains.

Don’t fall into the common trap of going over every single feature for fear of leaving out something the prospect might like. Barrows points out, if you focus on making everything a must-see, then nothing stands out. Additionally, you may lose out to a competitor who knows how to strategically sell that 20 percent. “You’ll get beat by someone with a lesser solution who knows how to focus their presentation on what the client actually needs and what aligns with their priorities,” Barrow writes. And that is the magic 20 percent.

Focus your efforts on only those features that align with
the prospect’s specific needs and pain points. To master this technique, it’s
imperative you do quality research prior to the meeting. Discover industry challenges,
uncover current problems, and find out about past and current vendors they use.
He suggests putting extra emphasis on discovering what their priorities are and
what their organization wants to accomplish. Even if you don’t find specifics,
you can still get enough information to craft clarifying questions for your
meeting. “Frame your questions to help uncover what their top priorities are
and focus on the 20% of your product that can have the greatest impact on them,”
Barrow explains.

Try this tactic with your next prospect. Save everyone time by
cutting down your pitch and focus only on sharing information that is specific
and relevant to the prospect. You’ll likely find that the 20% is all they need
to sign a contract.

Jessica Helinski

Jessica is a senior research analyst for SalesFuel focusing on selling to SMB decision makers. She also reports on sales and presentation tips for SalesFuel and Media Sales Today. Jessica is a graduate of Ohio University.